Sheet handling mechanism for web printing rotary presses



H.M.BARBER Sept. 28, 1937.

SHEET HANDLING MECHANISM FOR WEB PRINTING ROTARYPRESSES Filed April 50, 1936 KNVENTOR Wag/.2494

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 28, 1937 SHEET HANDLING MECHANISM FOR WEB PRINTING.ROTARY PRESSES Howard Barber, Pawcatuck, Conn., assignor to C. B.'Cottrell & Sons Company, Westerly, R. 1., a corporation of Delaware Application April 30, 1936, Serial No. 77,140

2 Claims.

I The object of my invention is to cut sheets from a traveling Web and to collect the sheets at the speed of the press and to finally deliver the so collected sheets flat upon inner and outer piles at a lesser speed for ensuring the proper deposit 5 of the sheets upon the said piles.

My invention comprises, generally, means for severing the sheets from the traveling web, means for collecting the sheets and means for delivering the sheets, said delivery means comprising inner and outer endless carriers arranged to take the sheets from the collecting means and to deposit the sheets upon their respective inner and outer delivery piles.

My invention comprises, more specifically,

15 sheet transfer and collecting rotary carriers, a sheet transfer endless carrier traveling at the surface speed of the transfer and collecting rotary carriers and having suitably spaced grippers for taking the sheets from the sheet collecting rotary carrier, and a sheet delivery endless carrier traveling at a lesser surface speed and having spaced grippers for taking the collected sheets from the inner endless carrier grippers and depositing the sheets upon their respective inner and outer delivery piles.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawing, in which the figure illustrates in diagrammatic side elevation so much of a mechanism for cutting, collecting and delivering sheets, as includes my invention.

The traveling web which is denoted by I passes between rotary cutters 2, 3, where the sheets are I 35 severed from the traveling webby the coacting cutter blades 4, 5.

The web then passes between guide rolls 6, I to a sheet transfer rotary carrier 8 having two sets of diametrically opposed grippers 9. A pres- 4 sure roller I serves to ensure the grasping of the leading edge of the web by one of the sets of grippers 9 as the sheet is severed from the web.

The sheet collecting rotary carrier II 'has three sets of equally spaced grippers I2 ar- 45 ranged to take successive sheets from the transfer rotary carrier grippers 9 and collect the sheets on the three surfaces of the said rotary carrier I I. The sheet transfer rotary carrier 8 is shown as two-thirds the size of the sheet collecting ro- 50 tary carrier II so that'the sets of grippers on both rotary carriers are spaced the same distances apart around their respective carriers.

The delivery for the collected groups of sheets is constructed, arranged and operated as follows:

55 A horizontally disposed sheet transfer carrier I3 travels in an endless path, its inner end being located beneath the sheet collecting rotary carrier H, which endless carrier I3 comprises the usual side chains which pass around the inner and outer end sprockets I4 and I5 respectively. 5 This sheet transfer endless carrier is provided in the present instance with two sets of grippers I6 spaced the required distance apart.

A horizontally disposed sheet delivery carrier Ii travels in an endless path, its inner end being located over the outer end of the sheet transfer endless carrier i3, which endless delivery carrier comprises the usual side chains which pass around the inner and outer end sprockets I8 and I9 respectively. This sheet delivery endless carrier IT is provided in the present instance with six sets of grippers spaced the required distances apart.

Inner and outer delivery piles 2I and 22 are located beneath the sheet delivery endless car- 20 rier IT in position to receive the groups of collected sheets from the said endless carrier H.

The sheet transfer rotary carrier 8, the sheet collecting rotary carrier II and the sheet transfer endless carrier I3 are all driven at substantially the same surface speed. The sheet delivery endless carrier I1 is driven at a slower surface speed. The means which I have shown for accomplishing this result is as follows:

A gear 23 on the shaft of the sheet collecting 0 rotary carrier I I is operatively connected through a pinion 24 with a gear 25 on the shaft of the inner sprocket I8 of the sheet delivery endless carrier II. This gear 25 is operatively connected through the pinions 26 and 21 with a gear 28 on the shaft of the outer sprocket I5 of the sheet transfer endless carrier I3.

The grippers on the several rotary and endless carriers are operated to cause the grippers 9 on the sheet transfer rotary carrier 8 to take the successive sheets which are cut from the traveling web and transfer them to their respective grippers I2 on the sheet collecting rotary carrier II, where the sheets are collected and transferred to the grippers I6 of the sheet transfer endless carrier I3. These grippers I6 in turn transfer the groups of sheets to their grippers 20 on the slower traveling sheet delivery endless carrier H, which grippers 20 are released at the proper times for delivering the groups of sheets to their respective delivery piles.

Coacting earns 29 and 30 serve to operate the coacting sets of grippers 9 and I2 to cause the transfer of the sheets to the sheet collecting rotary carrier II. Coacting cams 3| and 32 serve to operate the grippers l2 and [6 to cause the groups of collected sheets to be transferred at the proper times from the sheet collecting rotary carrier II to the sheet transfer endless carrier l3. Coacting cams 33 and 34 serve to operate the grippers l6 and 20 to cause the transfer of the groups of sheets from the sheet transfer endless carrier l3 to the sheet delivery endless carrier l1. Cams 35 and 36 serve to operate selected sets of grippers 20 on the sheet delivery endless carrier I! for causing the groups of sheets to be deposited flat upon their inner and outer piles 21 and 22.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided means whereby the sheets out from a rapidly traveling web may be collected and transferred to a slower moving delivery carrier for deposit upon their respective delivery piles, thereby ensuring an efficient delivery of the sheets from a high speed web printing rotary press.

It is evident that various changes may be resorted to in the construction, form and arrangement of the several parts Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not intend to be limited to the particular embodiment herein shown and described, but

What I claim is:

1. In a sheet delivery mechanism, inner and outer delivery piles, a horizontally disposed sheet delivery endless carrier, a sheet collecting rotary carrier, a horizontally disposed sheet transfer endless carrier operable to take the sheets from the sheet collecting rotary carrier and to transfer them to the sheet delivery endless carrier, and means for driving the sheet transfer endless carrier at the surface speed of the sheet collecting rotary carrier and for driving the sheet delivery endless carrier at a lesser surface speed.

2. In a sheet delivery mechanism, inner and outer delivery piles, a horizontally disposed sheet delivery endless carrier, a sheet collecting rotary carrier, a horizontally disposed sheet transfer endless carrier operable to take the sheets from the sheet collecting rotary carrier and to transfer them to the sheet delivery endless carrier, and means for driving the sheet transfer endless carrier at the surface speed of the sheet collecting rotary carrier and for driving the sheet delivery endless carrier at a lesser surface speed, the sheet transfer endless carrier extending from a point beneath the sheet collecting rotary carrier to a point beneath the sheet delivery endless carrier.

HOWARD M. BARBER. 

